American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) Director Martha Clark Goss Sells 710 Shares

American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) Director Martha Clark Goss sold 710 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.85, for a total value of $101,423.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 36,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,268,308. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

American Water Works Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE AWK traded up $0.63 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $144.11. The stock had a trading volume of 832,591 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,238,648. The company has a market cap of $28.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.23, a PEG ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The business’s 50 day moving average is $139.27 and its 200-day moving average is $129.45. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 52 week low of $113.34 and a 52 week high of $149.00.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.42 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.47 by ($0.05). American Water Works had a net margin of 21.93% and a return on equity of 9.60%. The business had revenue of $1.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.10 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.44 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.26 EPS for the current year.

American Water Works Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.765 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 13th. This represents a $3.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.12%. American Water Works’s payout ratio is 62.07%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AWK. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of American Water Works from $124.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, May 13th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded American Water Works from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $127.00 to $138.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $141.17.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Water Works

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of American Water Works during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. ORG Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Water Works during the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. grew its position in shares of American Water Works by 100.0% during the 1st quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 254 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares during the period. Tortoise Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of American Water Works by 71.9% in the 4th quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 239 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new position in American Water Works in the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

American Water Works Company Profile

American Water Works Company, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides water and wastewater services in the United States. It offers water and wastewater services to approximately 1,700 communities in 14 states serving approximately 3.5 million active customers. The company serves residential customers; commercial customers, including food and beverage providers, commercial property developers and proprietors, and energy suppliers; fire service and private fire customers; industrial customers, such as large-scale manufacturers, mining, and production operations; public authorities comprising government buildings and other public sector facilities, such as schools and universities; and other utilities and community water and wastewater systems.